For years, patients have been able to get the same drug for free from Jacobus Pharmaceuticals, a small New Jersey-based drug company, which offered it through a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) program called "compassionate use."​

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The program allows patients with rare diseases and conditions access to experimental drugs outside of a clinical trial when there is no viable alternative.​

Experimental. It wasn't for sale.

Florida-based Catalyst received FDA approval of Firdapse in November, along with exclusive rights to market the medication for several years. The company, which bought rights to the drug from a company called BioMarin in 2012, develops and commercializes drugs for rare diseases. ​

The FDA approved its sale. It's now for sale.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders sent a letter to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (CPRX.O) on Monday asking it to justify its decision to charge $375,000 annually for a medication that for years has been available to patients for free. ​

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Almost every problem with US Healthcare can be traced back to some "unintended" consequence of government action. I use quotes because more and more I am convinced the current state is entirely intended as some members of our various legislative bodies have no desire to fix the problem, just to take control over everything related to it.